On September 21, 2025, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon tabled Bill C-39 in Parliament. Known as the Building Canada Strong Act, this legislation intends to speed up project approvals by allowing the cabinet to sidestep environmental laws for specific national interests.
The economic urgency of the Trump-era trade war
The Carney government is positioning Bill C-39 as a vital defensive measure against global economic volatility. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Mark Carney emphasized that his administration has a mandate to address the economic threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The administration argues that the current trade war necessitates a more agile regulatory environment to ensure Canadian projects move forward without being sttalled by excessive bureaucracy.
As the report indicates, the government's philosophy is built on the idea that "a decision delayed is a project denied." This stance is a direct response to the previous administration, which Carney claims caused businesses to halt construction due to mounting red tape. Supporters of the bill, such as Senator Clément Gignac of the Canadian Senators Group, have described the legislation as a significant positive step for the national economy, aiming for a streamlined process of "one project, one review, and one year to decision."
Shifting oversight to Tim Hodgson and the Canada Energy Regulator
Bill C-39 represents a significant consolidation of regulatory power under the jurisdiction of Energy Minister Tim Hodgson. The legislation proposes moving the federal review process for critical infrastructure—including pipelines, nuclear facilities, and power lines—away from the Impact Assessment Agency. Instead, these reviews would fall under the purview of the Canada Energy Regulator and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
This move follows a regulatory shift implemented by the Carney Liberals on September 9, which already altered the framework for pipelines, transmission lines, and certain oilsands extraction facilities. According to the details of the bill, the goal is to centralize authority within agencies that are more closely aligned with energy management, thereby accelerating the timeline for major industrial developments.
The undefined boundaries of "National Interest Regions"
Despite the government's efforts to refine the bill following 21,000 responses to a discussion paper, significant legal ambiguities remain. The legislation introduces the concept of "National Interest Regions," where projects could potentially be pre-approved and exempt from standard environmental laws. However, the bill does not specify the geographic size or the exact scope of these designated zones,leaving the door open for significant administrative discretion.
Environmental advocates,most notably Ecojustice, have raised alarms regarding this lack of clarity. Margot Venton, the program director of nature at Ecojustice, waned that the changes could allow the cabinet to avoid federal environmental standards without any clear limitations on what qualifies as a "national interest" project or area. This has left several critical questions unanswered: What specific criteria will the governor-in-council use to name these regions? How will the government prevent the designation of areas that could cause irreparable harm to nature or climate? And without defined limits, how will the cabinet's discretion be checked to prevent overreach?
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